AT&T casts sponsorship spell over new 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' game

AT&T is now part of Harry Potter lore as the first brand to ink a sponsorship deal with the new augmented reality game about the wizarding world. AT&T stores are incorporated into the landscape of the game, called “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” which is by Niantic, the creator of “Pokémon Go." AT&T acquired Time Warner last year, in a deal that included Warner Bros., the studio that owns rights to Harry Potter. AT&T and Cricket Wireless, which it owns, appear to be the only sponsors in the game so far, which debuted Friday after a soft launch on Thursday. An AT&T spokeswoman confirmed its involvement in the game but declined to reveal financial terms of the integration. The game includes "inns" and "fortresses" that can be accessed when playing from inside more than 10,000 AT&T and Cricket Wireless retail stores. The Inns and fortresses allow players to recharge their energy, find challenges or encounter other virtual wizards and magical creatures. The promotion started today for AT&T and will kick off on July 15 for Cricket. The game is positioned to tap into the raging fandom of the Harry Potter books and movie franchise while replicating the success of “Pokémon Go,” which showed the possibilities of augmented reality in mobile games. Starbucks and Sprint became the first U.S. sponsors in “Pokémon Go” six months after it was released in July 2016. Their logos appeared in the game map, in a move to lure players to visit their physical... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-21 21:00:51 UTC ]
News tagged with: #virtual space #in-app purchases #$2 million #senior vp #digital marketing #nielsen #time warner #harry potter

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Robert Harris joins Capital Crime line-up

Bestselling author Robert Harris is joining the line-up for David Headley and Adam Hamdy's new London festival Capital Crime. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Raven wins drinking game thriller on pre-empt

Raven Books has pre-empted a thriller, Never Have I Ever, about a drunken game which goes wrong from US author Joshilyn Jackson. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A united front

The release of Matthew Hedges is a hard-won victory, but many other academics and writers desperately need similar support from their peers, says author Jonathan Emmett. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forget Zuckerberg – the tech giants don’t have to own the future | John Harris

Facebook, Google and Apple make the headlines, but there are many inspiring startups to dissipate the sense of techno-dreadA quarter of a century ago, the Canadian author Douglas Coupland published his third novel. Microserfs was the tale of a group of young Microsoft employees who decide to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Leslie Smith obituary

Writer, campaigner and passionate critic of austerity who found fame late in life with his bestselling book Harry’s Last StandIf proof were ever needed that it is never too late to make a major impact, Harry Leslie Smith, who has died aged 95, surely offers it. He was 91 when his bestselling... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Game developer Rebellion is opening its own UK film and TV studio

The UK game developer behind Sniper Elite is opening its own film studio where it plans to shoot a Judge Dredd TV series and Rogue Trooper film. Rebellion, which also created the PSVR tank shooter Battlezone, nabbed the rights to the comic books afte... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2018-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oxenbury to illustrate Potter’s ‘little known’ Red Riding Hood

Helen Oxenbury is illustrating a “little known and darkly delicious" retelling of Red Riding Hood by Beatrix Potter. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google unveils holiday season savings on games, apps, books and movies

It can't have escaped your attention that -- in the US at least -- holiday season is just around the corner. With Thanksgiving comes Black Friday and other sales, and Google is getting in on the action with a series of discounts in the Play Store. There are great savings to be made on games and... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2018-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Québec, a Literary Prize Is Suspended Over Objections to Amazon Sponsorship

Raising concerns about damage to a 'fragile ecosystem,' authors shortlisted for Québec's Prix littéraire des collégiens objected to the announcement that Amazon had become the prize's main sponsor. The post In Québec, a Literary Prize Is Suspended Over Objections to Amazon Sponsorship appeared... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OWN IT! to publish ‘game-changing’ football psychology book

OWN IT! has acquired world rights to a book, Soccology, about the psychology behind football, by former professional footballer Kevin George. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit Sales Dropped 5.3% in Early November

Unit sales of print books fell 5.3% in the week ended Nov. 10, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stan Lee's comic books were a commentary on the social issues facing the United States

Stan Lee's impact on popular culture spurred a billion dollar superhero industry, but the comic supremo's contribution to American literature during a period of intense social change was just as rich.   Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2018-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Prima Games to Shutter Next Spring

The U.S.-based DK imprint, which publishes strategy guides to video games, will stop commissioning new titles immediately, and will be discontinued in spring 2019. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print Units Had Small Gain In Mid-October

Unit sales of print books inched ahead 0.5% in the week ended Oct. 20, 2018, over the comparable week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Osprey unveils 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' board game

Bloomsbury division Osprey Games is launching a game, "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Board Game of English Magic", based on of Susanna Clarke’s cult novel. Coming in June 2019, the game - inspired by the 2005 bestseller Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (Bloomsbury) - will see players... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Most Segments Down, Units Dipped in Mid-October

Unit sales of print books fell 2.9% in the week ended Oct. 13, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Discord’s game store is here to take a bite out of Steam

The popular gaming chat app wants to be the local bookstore to Steam’s Amazon. Discord hopes to claim a piece of the $29 billion digital PC game sales market by adding a store to its popular gaming chat app. The Discord Store Beta, which is launching today after a limited test run in Canada,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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